Universal punch press guard



Aug. 13, 1935. E. o. .GAUL 2,011,047

UNIVERSAL PUNCH PRESS GUARD Filed Oct. 15, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l \nvenfor A'Womeg Aug. 13, 1935. o, Au- 2,011,047

UNIVERSAL PUNCH PRESS GUARD Filed Oct. 15, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 jaway from the punch press during the periods that the press is performing its work, thatis, as

hitherto attained by; any patent, lies in mypar-i ticular'fconstruction wherein those parts which are .rnost susceptible to parting are exposedjo viewat all times. That is, the ends of the several. cables andthe connections used in carrying the motionirom the reciprocating ram to thehands of the operator, are exposed to view whereby they 5 45 1 mitting the desired motion which meanswill not tion; entirely eliminates any levers whichv might j bow and consequently permitimproper '01 slow' Patented Aug. 13, 1935 a 7 a 2,011,047 UNIVERSAL PUNCH PRESS GUARD Emil 0. Gem, can Haven,

Mich., assignor V to 1 Grand Haven Stamped Products Company,

Grand Haven,

'gan

Mich., a, corporation or Michi- Ap lication October 15, 1934, Serial No. 748,279 6 Claims. (01. 74-5615 Thepresent invention relatesto. punch press guards, being directed towardthe provision of .a means for withdrawing the handsof an operator the punch is moved toward the die to operate upon a metal member to shape or form or pierce the same, which is work commonly done with punch presses. j r The work is placed in the press usuallyby hand at atime when the punch is in an upper position. Thereis danger that: the hands of the press 013?- erators 1may be injured due in. many cases to xnegligence or carelessnessin .not removing the hands'after the work hasbeen properly placed, so

that the punch on coming down to' the die may mutilate the handsor fingers of the operator;

A With my invention I have provided a guard whichwill serve to positively move. the hands of the operator away from thedie and, away from the path of movenientof the punch, The guard which I have provided .isof substantially uni 'vrsal application, maybe applied to many dif- W ferent types and c haractersof punch pressesand hasa Wide range of adjustment so as to be ap-.

plicable to the same or different types of punch presses with different characters of work operated upon. It is also a feature ofthe presentinvention that the distance thehands of theoperator are "withdrawn. from the work may be controlled and adjusted. This may be desirable withfdiiferent; types and characters of work; In'all cases it is, i designed that the hands of the operator shall be,

. fully and sufiiciently withdrawn from the pathrof movement of. the punch that injuries will be sub-l,.

stantially eliminated. a. i.

Another great advantage of rnyinventiomnot may be readily inspectedand thus accidents will be prevented. Also, I utilize means fortranselongate materially under tension. My construe:

movement of the guarding means itself.

.hnunderstanding of theinvention may be had from thefollowingdescription taken inzconnec- ;tion with the accompanying drawings, in which i Fig. 1 is an elevation showing my invention appliedto a punch press having asubstantially V verticallymov'able ram. 1 i

Fig. 2 is a similar elevation showing the'invention" applied to a press in which the ram movesat an incline to the vertical.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the upper horizontal 'member of the guard structure of my invention.

Fig. 4' is a fragmentaryienlarge'd elevation of mechanism forming a part of my invention,

Fig. 5 is afragmentary substantially central vertical section through the construction shown in Fig. 4, and

:Fig. 6 is a partial side elevation and section illustrating the grooved wheelson which thehand withdrawing cables are mounted and-connected.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the "different figures of the drawings. 7 V The punch press I is provided with a table 2 upon whichdie 3 may be mounted, cooperating with which-is a punch 4 secured to the'lower end of a reciprocating ram 5, which is reciprocated by the rotation of a crank shaft 6 usually supplied with a fly-wheel 1. The reciprocation of the ram may be by means of a suitable. eccentric or other equivalent construction for transmitting rotary H into reciprocating motion. The construction for reciprocating the ram ,5 and the various controls for punch press are old and well knownand need not beentered into in detail, 7 R V In the guard construction which I have invented,ra supportc is provided including a vertical rod or. post ,8 having a supporting foot 9, On said rodgone end of an upper horizontal beam struc-- .ture: is adjustably mounted. The beam structure.comprises, preferablyas' shown,-two spaced apart angle bars l0 connected together and held in spaced apart relation at their end portions by cross bars H.. .A sleeve or collar 12 is at one 3 end of the beam structure and is received over the post 8 and may be adjusted to difierent positions thereon and held by a set screw.

The beam structure, includingthe spaced bars 7 shown in Fig.- l in Which the ram 5 is vertical,

or in one like that shown in Fig. 2 wherein the ram 5 is inclined to the vertical and the other parts of the press adjacent'are correspondingly tilted, thissupporting structure described may be very readily and easily applied, theclamp l 5 being pulley ii is also mounted between said bars it on a journal bolt which may pass through any suitable openings of a plurality of spaced apart openings i8 made in the vertical legs of the angle bars it. The pulley ii is properly located with'reference to the punch press and the large number of openings l8 permit the pulleyi'i to be located at the proper position.

A pin is projects forward from the lower end of the ram 5, moving therewith. An adjustable turn-buckle construction comprising two rods 253 connected by turn-buckle 2! is secured at one end to the pin i9, one end of one of the rods 2E3 having a pivotal connection thereto. To the opposite end of the opposite rod 20 a cable 22 is connected which-passes upwardly over the pulley ii and thence to the pulley it and downwardly substantially parallel to the post 3. The cable 22 is divided between its ends and the adjacent ends are connected, by suitable connections such as 23 in Fig.1. or 23a. in Fig. 2. The

connection at 23a includes a link which compensates for the greater distance that the pulleys l6 and Ilare spaced apart, this being. re-

. ;quired by reason of the different angles at which the presses are located. The connection between the pin it, including the turnbuckle structure and that part of the cable which leads to the pulleyll should be, as nearly as possible, par- I. allel to the rain 5.

On the post 8 a supporting frame is adjustably mounted. It includes two spaced apart upper and lower brackets 26 with suitable openings through which the post 8' may pass and with set- 1 screws for securing the frame in any position to which adjusted. A rod 25 passes slidably through the members 24 (see Fig. 5). The cable 22 is connected to the upper end of the rod 25. At its lower end it is provided with suitable nuts or a nut and washer against which the lower end of a coiled compression spring 2? bears,

the upper end bearing against the lower' side of the-lovlermember 2 5. The rod 25 is'formed with a consecutive series of rack .teeth 28 at one side as shown.

From the upper and lowermembers 2 of the frame, bars or brackets 29 extend downwardly and upwardly toward each other,'integrally connecting with spaced .apart bearings til through which a horizontal shaft 3i passes and in which bearings said .shaft is .rotatably mounted. A

pinion 321s :carried on the shaft and is in mesh with rack 28. 'Suitable collars on the shaft 3i, one at each side of the pinion and one at the outer end of each bearing 38, serve to properly locate the shaft and the pinion and hold the parts in desired position.

At each end of the shaft 3! a grooved wheel 33 is mounted. As shown at the right hand end 1 of Fig. 4, and also in Fig. 6, the wheel has a pluralityof openings 33a spaced from each other around the center of the wheel. A suitable c01- lar on the shaft has a pin to engage in a selectedone of said openings. Each wheel has a large recess or notch 35 in a side thereof. A

cable is connected to each of thewheels at 1 the recess by means of a connecting clamp 36. Each wheel has a guardtl partially around it, which guard is supported by means of bracket arms, indicated at 38, which are connected to and'extend from the'ends of the frame previously described. The cables pass from the connecting clamps 86 (Fig. 6) around the wheels and thence through guard sleeves 39, integral with the guards 3'! as shown in Fig. 6. Each of the cables at its free end carries a hand engaging member iil, comprising a wristlet to be buckled over the wrist of the operator and a loop through which the thumb may pass. There being two of these members, both hands of the operator are supplied as is evident.

' In the operation of thepunch press, when the ram is in upper position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the spring ill acts to move the rod 25 to its lowermost position, turning the grooved wheels 33 in a clockwise direction, (Figs. 1 and 2) and releasing the cables 35. This permits the operator sufficient freedom of movement that he can place the work to be fabricated by the press upon the die 3. Then upon the downward reciprocating movement of the ram 5, the cable is pulled over the pulleys i6 and i-i, drawing upwardly rod 2'5, thereby rotating the shaft 3! and rotating the grooved wheels 33 in a counterclockwise direction. This winds the cables 35 upon the wheels 33 and withdraws the hanm of theoperator from position of danger with respect to the punch. As soon as the punch has performed its operation and has returned to upper position, the cables 35 are released, it being evidentthat the s ring 27 takes up the slack in the cable 2'2, and rotates the shaft 3! and the parts connected therewith in a direction'reverse to the rotation imparted by the downward reciprocating movement of the ram 5.

By placing the pulleys 33 at different positions on the shaft 3!, the distance that the operators hands are pulled away from the punch press is made variable. This is desirable in the case of different sizes of work or in different types of punch presses. The adjustment of the parts 24 of the frame structure described on the post 8 is of value in setting up the guard. Different lengths of links 23a may be used for presses having different degrees of inclination-to the vertical. The height of the horizontal beam may be adjusted for different heights of presses. It is evident that the construction is one of substantially universal application to all punch presses and can be readily adjusted to any particular selected press. The construction has proved very practical and useful in actual practice.

The invention is defined inthe appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

I claim:

1; In combination with a punch press or the like having a substantially vertical reciprocating ram, of a post located in front of the press, a horizontal beam supported by said post and said press and located above the press, pulleys mounted on the beam, a cable having operative connection at one end to said ram and passing over said pulleys and downwardly adjacent the post, a vertically movable rack mounted on the post, the other end of the cable being connected to the said rack, a shaft mounted on the post, a pinion on said shaft engaging with the rack, a pair of wheels mounted on the shaft and cables connected at one end to said wheels, said cables at their opposite ends having means to connect with the hands of the press operator whereby on downward movement of the ram, the hands of the operator are withdrawn from the press.

for each wheel, means for adjustably connecting the post, means cooperatively associated with the rack and ram whereby downward movement 'of the ram causes upward movement of the rack, a

horizontal shaft mounted on the post, a pinion on the shaft engaging the rack, a grooved wheel near each end of the shaft, a collar fixed on the shaft the wheels to their respective collars, said wheels each having a recess at one side, a cable connected to each wheel in said recess and fitting into the groove thereof, each of said cables at its outer end having means to connect with the hands of the press operator, as and for the purposes described.

4. A construction containing the elements in combination defined in claim 3, combined with a coiled compression spring on said rack for pull- .ing the same downwardly as the ram travels upwardly.

5. In combination with a punch press or the like having a substantially vertical reciprocating ram, of a post located in front of thepress, a

ram whereby downward movement of the ram causes upward movement of the rack, a shaft mounted on the post, a pinion on said shaft engaging with the rack, a pair of wheels mounted on the shaft and cables connected at one end to said wheels, said cables at their opposite ends having means to connect with the hands of the press. operator whereby on downward movement of the ram, the hands of the operator are withdrawn from the press. 6. In combination with a punch press or the ciated with the vertically movable means and the ram whereby downward movement of the ram causes upward movement of the vertically movable means, said operating means including an element extending upwardly alongside of the post in spaced relationship thereto, a pair of cables, each cable having means to'connect with the hands of the press operator, means attached to the cables for varying their respective lengths, and connecting means located between the last mentioned means and the vertically movable means whereby movement of the latter operates the former.

' EMlL O. GAUL.

I so vertically movable rack mounted on the post, means cooperatively associated with the rack and 7 like having a reciprocating ram, of a, post located in front of the press, vertically movable means mounted on the post, means cooperatively asso 

